They think they can ignore them forever but there will be a point when this will come to a head.
The European Parliament passed another resolution today demanding an independent international public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the stories she investigated.
They demanded members of Government withdraw libel suits against her, inherited by her family.
They demanded an investigation into the Panama Papers and 17 Black.
They demanded Malta withdraws its passport sales scheme.
These are demands civil society has been putting to the government for months. They have ignored everyone for months.
The courts and the institutions have not helped even where they had the power and the duty to do so. They all helped the government’s excuses to do nothing.
Many people have stopped asking. Many people have lost interest. Many people have given up.
The criminals that are being challenged by these demands want exactly that. But they’re not as comfortable as they want you to think they are.
The Council of Europe’s GRECO report on corruption in Malta has been in their inbox for several days. If they speed read it at a fraction of the speed with which they read the Egrant inquiry, they know very well what it says. So far they have used their discretion (only ever used by Hungary and Belarus in the past) to prevent the report’s publication. There’s so much embarrassment they can handle.
The Council of Europe’s Moneyval survey into financial propriety is also a matter of controversy as Edward Scicluna is anticipating its findings by selling to everyone the idea that any negative outcome is a result of David Casa’s magical powers of influence. Be that as it may, his Ministry will again be failed in basic anti-money laundering controls.
Anticipating the disastrous vote of today in the European Parliament, Labour MEPs blamed the resounding voting majority on treason, harassment, victimisation of Malta.
They promised Malta would be “the best in Europe” but now we only get praise from the worst. Matteo Salvini thinks we’re great. When praise comes from an illiberal neo-fascist you know you’ve touched some new low.
The European Socialist Party voted with the resounding majority in the European Parliament to condemn the crushing of the rule of law in Malta and the chilling effect on all journalists by our government’s behaviour in the case of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
When a new European Commission is appointed, Joseph Muscat may very well appoint himself Commissioner. Being a former Prime Minister it is almost a given that he’ll be nominated at least Vice President of the Commission.
He’ll be washed in the prestige of self-anointment.
But the truth of the European Parliament’s declarations and resolutions will not go away.
Nor will the faint, sore call for justice.